:00:28. > :00:32.Welcome to news watch. So many people have turned out here at
:00:32. > :00:38.Land's end, many people really proud that Cornwall should be the
:00:38. > :00:41.place that the torch starts this relay, they have loved it here. Not
:00:41. > :00:49.everybody loves watching the progress of the Olympic torch
:00:49. > :00:53.around the UK. All the rest of the build-up to the Games. Soon will --
:00:53. > :01:00.we will do Beijing, whether the BBC News should be the cheerleader for
:01:00. > :01:04.London 2012. -- BBC. Safely delivered from Greece to Cornwall,
:01:04. > :01:08.the flame that the cauldron with the assistance of David Beckham.
:01:08. > :01:16.The following morning, the moment many but not everyone had been
:01:16. > :01:23.waiting for. The start of the 70- day journey dominated that day's
:01:23. > :01:29.breakfast, eliciting this response from these two viewers. The only
:01:29. > :01:39.story of the day was the Olympic torch relay. What incredibly
:01:39. > :01:58.
:01:58. > :02:02.leafier coverage was delivered by That was very much a minority view.
:02:02. > :02:08.Most other news items and programmes such as news watch fell
:02:08. > :02:18.by the wayside in favour of this first leg of the torch relay. Mike
:02:18. > :02:46.
:02:46. > :02:53.Hughes e-mailed : Linda Hughes was Despite those views, and you will
:02:53. > :02:58.see plenty more of the torture and hear plenty more about the Olympics.
:02:58. > :03:03.How much should any sports event even one as big as this displace
:03:04. > :03:08.the normal news agenda? Is BBC News effectively acting as a propaganda
:03:08. > :03:13.machine for the Olympics? To give me their views on that, I am joined
:03:13. > :03:20.by the head of the BBC new rooms - by the head of the BBC new rooms -
:03:20. > :03:25.a news room and two viewers. What do you make of the Olympic coverage
:03:25. > :03:33.and the build-up to the Olympic Games as the BBC is telling it?
:03:33. > :03:37.would like a more balanced view. A non- excepting view of everything
:03:37. > :03:42.that the committees and Sebastian Coe says as fact. I would like to
:03:42. > :03:46.know from Mary, can she guarantee, at some point in the month or so
:03:46. > :03:50.during the Olympics, I would like some haven of sanity, where there
:03:50. > :03:55.is millions of us who do not like sport, do not appreciate the
:03:55. > :04:02.Olympics coming to our fair cities, to retire to and have some sanity.
:04:02. > :04:05.I am worried and have been since January 1st, when we started
:04:06. > :04:13.getting the propaganda rammed down our throat by the BBC and other
:04:13. > :04:20.outlets, there is going to be no haven for us people who despise and
:04:20. > :04:26.detest the obscene amount of money the Olympics makes. Before we go to
:04:26. > :04:31.Mary, I would like to go to our other viewer. You are not so anti-
:04:32. > :04:38.the Olympics, what is your concern about BBC coverage? Principally, it
:04:38. > :04:45.is the balance between the Olympic coverage and the news. On Saturday,
:04:45. > :04:50.for example, the Breakfast Programme was the Olympic torch and
:04:50. > :04:55.nothing else except for a brief mention of the military parade in
:04:55. > :05:01.winds are. I got so fed up watching that, not knowing what is going on
:05:01. > :05:04.to the world, I swapped over to Sky news. The BBC is the host
:05:04. > :05:13.broadcaster of the Olympics and see it as their job to promote it,
:05:13. > :05:18.which hit is not. Plenty beer from our viewers. Propaganda, too much,
:05:18. > :05:21.be collecting proper news stories? The decision for breakfast on
:05:21. > :05:25.Saturday morning was to recognise that in terms of world events, the
:05:25. > :05:31.torture and the beginning of its journey was the live event of the
:05:31. > :05:36.morning, with amazing pictures. And the was an amazing turn out by the
:05:36. > :05:42.public. That is one thing I would like to focus on. You may be
:05:42. > :05:46.worried that we are promoting something because of the Olympics
:05:46. > :05:56.Committee, we are responding to what has emerged as a big news
:05:56. > :06:02.event where they have big palpitation by the British public.
:06:02. > :06:09.One of our viewers is claiming that this is propaganda? We do you like
:06:09. > :06:13.it or not, this is it a big news event happening in Britain this
:06:13. > :06:18.summer. He raised an important point about the range of coverage
:06:18. > :06:22.and voices in the proper scepticism. We have done a lot of reporting on
:06:22. > :06:28.the Channel and the bulletins around issues of the ticketing
:06:28. > :06:32.process, the cost, reappeared the issue of a Ukrainian Olympics
:06:32. > :06:36.official being accused of ticket touting, we have looked at the
:06:36. > :06:43.transport issues, the security issues, the possible destruction,
:06:43. > :06:49.we will continue to look at those aspects. Has Mary gone any way to
:06:49. > :06:57.convince you, and the? After a fashion. But you should stick to
:06:57. > :07:02.news items. People can go and watch other sports channels. For us, who
:07:02. > :07:09.do not like the Olympics or any form of sport, keep the news to the
:07:09. > :07:13.news and keeps bought to its sections within the news spots.
:07:13. > :07:17.What is your response, Andrew Taylor? It was a important to show
:07:17. > :07:22.the departure of the torch from Land's end, but there was enough.
:07:22. > :07:29.We did not have to have a presenter on the ground for an hour talking
:07:29. > :07:35.about something that had already happened. The club level the same
:07:35. > :07:40.criticism at the previous night, when a reporter was waiting for a
:07:40. > :07:46.British Airways Airbus. As far as the Olympics are concerned, it is
:07:46. > :07:51.important, it is a national event, but I think it comes to the fore at
:07:51. > :07:57.the opening ceremony. Moving on, to the news coverage around the time
:07:58. > :08:02.of the Olympics. Can you assure viewers that they will be half an
:08:02. > :08:06.hour of news at one o'clock, six o'clock and ten o'clock and the
:08:06. > :08:13.programmes like Newsnight will not disappear? I can assure you that
:08:13. > :08:18.news will be a big part of the BBC's offered through the Olympics.
:08:18. > :08:24.BBC One becomes an Olympics and a news channel. Most days, the news
:08:24. > :08:28.will be at the time so you normally get it. One or two days, it will be
:08:28. > :08:33.a different fires because of sporting events. Everybody will
:08:33. > :08:40.know and see when the news will be. You point about a haven, I can
:08:40. > :08:44.reassure you, up to a point. I'm not able to Tully that the news
:08:44. > :08:48.will be an Olympics resign. They would not be the right thing to do
:08:48. > :08:56.from a news point of view. If you want to complete haven you will
:08:56. > :08:59.have to not read a paper, not to look at the television. Power, -- I
:08:59. > :09:07.can assure you you will get a good dose of other news and there will
:09:07. > :09:15.be plenty of scope for none Olympics programming across the
:09:15. > :09:20.portfolio of BBC channels at the time. Thank you. And thanks to our
:09:20. > :09:23.viewers. Let us look as some of the other issues that have been
:09:23. > :09:28.concerning news Watch fears this weekend. The priority given to the
:09:28. > :09:32.deaths of pop stars and others in the entertainment business is often
:09:32. > :09:42.controversial. So it proved last Sunday, with the news that Robin
:09:42. > :09:46.
:09:46. > :09:53.give from the BG's had died. This is our view. I was appalled that a
:09:53. > :10:02.pop star was all over the news. That this was the main news of the
:10:02. > :10:05.BBC. He plenty of reporting on the eurozone wallows. The tone of the
:10:05. > :10:10.coverage ING has been bothering this viewer. He said he was
:10:10. > :10:20.appalled by the sensationalist has been you put on the Greek euro
:10:20. > :10:57.
:10:57. > :11:07.Eight trend that has been annoying Here is another viewer : Neil
:11:07. > :11:24.